William Real was born c1858 in Tipperary, Ireland, to Patrick and Mary Real. On the 6th March 1880 in Queensland, he married Georgina Adelaide Birch and they had 8 children. Mr Real was a well-known journalist in Brisbane, Rockhampton, Charters Towers, Croydon and Cairns and did much to advocate the claims of and advertise North Queensland. He went to Croydon in 1897 from Charters Towers to pilot the “Mining News” in what was stated as “the treacherous waters of journalism” and subsequently started in Croydon, “The Record”, a paper that soon grew to be recognised as the brightest provincial paper in the State. With the decline of the goldfield came the cessation of the “‘Record,” and William then stepped into the editorial chair of the Cairns “Post,” which he soon converted into a leading daily paper. The Cairns Post wrote on his death. His labor on the “Post” was a labor of love – love of that craft, that art which preserves all arts-and what he has done will remain as a lasting monument to his memory” Bishop Murray who officiated at William Real’s funeral service, described him as a person who “had had a brilliant career. He had taken part in the scheme of life in which he had been cast in a manner that earned the confidence and esteem of his friends. Not only here, but in Croydon, where he had lived for years, he had won the continued affection of everybody.”